ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions' defensive line didn't put up huge numbers last year. But they could lead the league in at least one stat next year.

IQ.

Ndamukong Suh studied construction management engineering at Nebraska, and made the Big 12's all-acamdemic team as a senior. Ezekiel Ansah studied actuarial science (and minored in mathematics) at BYU.

Now the Lions have added a Princeton grad to the mix, selecting defensive tackle Caraun Reid in the fifth round of last week's draft.

Reid scored an 1880 on his SAT and was pre-med at the Ivy League school. Not to mention a two-time All-American on the grid iron.

"When the phone rang and I looked at the phone, I just froze. I couldn't believe it," Reid said just minutes after going 158th overall to Detroit. "It was one of those feelings, I mean, I was waiting for a while and watching the TV and waiting. But when that moment happened, I felt like I was picked first in the draft."

Reid, a native of the Bronx, comes from an eclectic family. His mother is a clinical hematologist, minister and licensed educator. His father is a school principal, bishop and psychologist.

His parents are driven people with varied interests, and they passed along those traits to their three children.

One of Reid's brothers, CaVar, is working toward his Ph.D. in American studies at the University of Michigan. The other, Caryl, is working toward a second master's degree at the Bank Street Graduate School of Education back in the Bronx.

As for Caraun, he chose to attend Princeton over accepting football scholarship offers to Army, Navy or Marshall. He sings bass with "Old Nassoul," an a cappella group that performs soul and R&B. He plays guitar and drums in a jazz band.

And on the weekends, he mashes offensive linemen.

"I don't like having free time or things like that," Reid said. "I always like to be doing something productive with my life. Now that I have an opportunity to focus on football 100 percent and it's my job, I won't be singing or doing all that stuff, but my versatility just even expands off the field and just being able to always be active. I have a really great attention span, so where others might fade away, I'm always alert and ready to go."

Reid is well-rounded and educated. But he can play some football, and he's committed to showing that his talents translate from the Ivy League to the NFL.

His stock exploded last season, when he finished with 26 tackles and 6.5 sacks, and was named an All-American for a second consecutive year. He's the first Princeton player to achieve that feat in two decades.

Reid solidified his place as an NFL draft prospect with a monster week at the Senior Bowl, and impressed the Lions during an interview at the combine. But the parties hadn't talked since, and Reid was somewhat surprised the Lions drafted him.

"We visited him at the combine. We felt great about him as a football player," general manager Martin Mayhew said. "He has some development he can do (coming from the) Ivy League. He'll be in an NFL program now, NFL training table. We're looking forward to having him on our team and developing him."

That process begins Friday, when rookies report to Allen Park for a three-day minicamp.

Reid joins a deep defensive tackle rotation that returns each of the top three players, including starters Suh and Nick Fairley. So he likely won't play much this year.

But Detroit doesn't have a single defensive tackle under its control beyond this season (pending rookie deals), so Reid could have an expanded role in the not-so-distant future if he develops.

He's somewhat raw, coming from the FCS division, and played in a 3-4 scheme at Princeton. But he already has begun learning the finer points of the NFL game by watching film of Suh and Fairley.

"Just watching them as players, just to sort of see where I can elevate my play," Reid said. "I knew I was going to be looked at as an interior lineman in a 4-3 defense. The defense that I played in college was a 3-4, so just being able to educate myself by watching great players play."

Reid's greatest gift might be his speed. He ran a 4.91-second 40-yard dash at the combine and is noted for an explosive first step that belies his 6-foot-2, 302-pound frame.

As it turns out, he's always been a big man. He was an 11-pound baby, which is how he got his unusual first name.

"It came from my doctor. He did a pretty good job delivering me and whatnot -- I was a pretty big baby, and my mom's not a big woman," Reid said.

"They named me 'Caraun' after him. His last name was Carauno, so they just chopped off the 'o.'"